Hello!
Sad news: Elder 홍의택 (Hong Witaek) transferred out today! I was SURE we were going to serve together for at least another transfer, but he's gone kind of far away. We got along really well the past few weeks, so it's sad to see him go so quickly.
Big news: I'll be training this transfer (and the next)! So I still don't know who my companion is, though he's probably on the plane coming to Korea right about now. I'm pretty nervous, but it seems like it'll be a lot of fun. The AP's say that there's 1 Korean elder and 7 foreign elders coming, so I'll probably be paired with a non-Korean. Crazy.
So because of that, I'll be hanging out in 구포 (Gupo, an area of Busan that looks like it's about four miles northwest of Andrew's assigned area of Gwangan) for the next few days with Elder 김인수 (Gim Insu), who is also training. We meet all the new missionaries on Wednesday, and we'll be back in 광안 (Gwangan) working by, oh, Thursday afternoon.
Both Elder 홍의택 (Hong Witaek) and I thought we were going to stay, so it's been a crazy past couple of days. I don't know if it's because the members really liked my companion or something (he's only been here like 3 months...), but we've been getting fed like crazy this week. Last Sunday, we had 3 meal appointments - a 2:00 lunch appointment, 6:00 dinner, and a 4:00 snack because why not.
It's been good though - honestly, I'm kind of sick of eating, but meeting with everyone has helped me to know who's who a lot better. I still don't know all of the member's names, which is kind of not okay (in my defense, I know the names of pretty much all the men, and the people that have callings that directly affect us (Bishop, ward mission leaders, youth leaders, etc.), and the names of people who invite us over to their houses, but some of the older single Relief Society I still don't know, and less actives are still kind of iffy). I'll have to try really hard to learn them all.
So we spent most of this last week with our members, which was sweet.
I think most of our investigators are in the same spot as last time, so I don't think I need to mention too much...
광안's (Gwangan) in a pretty good spot right now though, since we have people we're teaching. In addition to our investigators, we've got a couple of recent converts that need to be taught the new member lessons, so it seems like we'll be able to keep our schedule busy with people to meet.
One thing I'd like to try and work on this transfer is working with the ward better. I asked our ward mission leader what he wanted us to focus on, and he said working with the members would be really good. We'll try to focus on visiting members and figuring out how to do work with them. I still need to ask the bishop what his goals are, or what he wants us to be doing as missionaries - that feels like it's a really good place to start. I really like it when the ward or branch gives the missionaries specific assignments - "Will you contact this less active?" "Will you look for these lost members?" (lost members is also a less active finding program, but I'm not sure exactly what's different about it...).
Here's a bunch of pictures...
The first is of our English class. Elder Quist in our district is done with his mission and going home, so he requested a group picture. Note that they're everyone that comes to English class is like, super old.
The next picture is the somewhat-obligatory picture taken after the last district meeting in a transfer. I'm not sure if you care that much, but here's what the district is/was:
해운대 (Haeundae) A Elders: Elder Quist, Elder 정노영 (Jang Noeong)
해운대 (Haeundae) B Elders: Elder 문병광, Elder Hansen
광안 (Gwangan) Elders: Elder Luke, Elder 홍의택 (Hong Witaek)
광안 (Gwangan) Sisters: Sister 이자경 (I Jageong), Sister Bussio
We also had a cake-decorating activity for a YM/YW activity, so here's some pictures of that...
My cake was not nearly as pretty as I had hoped...
We also took some pictures with just our Intermediate class - a lot of people showed up since Elder 홍 (Hong) was leaving. The guy with up front is Brother 윤영언 (Yun Yeongeon), and the man in the strange purple garb is Brother 오삼석 (O Samseok).
And the last picture is me and companion, right before we separated today!
I think this week, I learned a lot about Heavenly Father helps us to change as we have righteous desires. I've been thinking about that alot, especially as I've been assigned to train - we're not perfect, but as we do what we know is right, we're blessed and given strength to rise.
I've had a lot of experiences like that as a missionary. For a good chunk of my mission, I was really, really scared to talk to people. I wasn't really sure why - I don't really mind if people tell me to go away, and for the most part, people are actually pretty nice. But I would go back and worth with worrying about it, to thinking that I didn't really need to talk to people (like on the street), then back to worrying about it. It was a couple of transfers ago that I decided to try harder, and to try to be braver. I had a lot of help from companions and our Heavenly Father of course, but now talking to people is a lot, lot easier. It's still not easy, especially if I'm feeling lazy or tired, but I've been able to get a testimony about how if we pray and do our part, God will bless us to be able to do things we thought were far to difficult for us to do.
I hope as I train, I'll be able to keep learning about and applying this principle. There will be difficult times but I hope I'll be able to rely on God to overcome those moments and change for the better. I think that that's one of the most important things I've learned as a missionary - how to change for the better by relying on the Atonement.
It's been a good week, and it'll be a crazy 3 months as me and my new companion train together. Pray for me! I'll be praying for you all too!
Love,
Elder Luke
The word in the title is 훈련 = hunlyeon = "training." Probably 訓練.
No comments:
Post a Comment